


Winter Break

by patchfire, raving_liberal



Series: Story of Three Boys [82]
Category: Glee
Genre: College, Holidays, M/M, Story Cycle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-01
Updated: 2012-10-11
Packaged: 2017-11-15 10:27:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/526281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patchfire/pseuds/patchfire, https://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/pseuds/raving_liberal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They can’t really go ‘home’ again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Same Airport, Twice

**Author's Note:**

> The downloadable playlist for this story cycle is available [here](http://storyof3boys.livejournal.com/97763.html).

The first thing Finn notices is that his mom brought Audrey with her to the airport. Well, technically that’s the second thing, since first he has to notice his mom is standing there, but the most _important_ thing is that she brought Aud with her.

“Audie-Aud!” Finn calls out, sprinting across the airport. He skids to a stop right in front of Carole and Audrey, who is dressed in the puffy pink snowsuit again, though she’s grown enough in the month since Thanksgiving that it’s starting to look like a tight fit. “How’s the best baby in the whole wide world?”

“Hello to you too, Finn,” Carole says, sounding amused. “I wasn’t sure where your bags would come out,” she adds, gesturing to the baggage carousels. Audrey just waves her arms stiffly in the air and drools a little bit. 

“I already got my bags,” Finn says, turning to show off the duffel over his shoulder. “And, sorry. Hey, Mom.”

“Aren’t you going to need more than that, Finn?” Carole asks, looking surprised. “I know you had a few gifts shipped home, but.” She stops and shakes her head. “Well. How were your finals, sweetie?”

“I think I did pretty good on them,” Finn says, trying to figure out how to extricate Audrey from the front carrier Carole has her crammed into. It’s different from the carrier at Thanksgiving, maybe to fit the snowsuit. “How do I get her out of this?”

“Oh, just this snap here,” Carole says, putting one hand across Audrey’s chest. “And then here, and there, and.” Carole undoes at least four different things before Audrey’s free enough for Carole to hand her to Finn. 

“You’re free, little starfish!” Finn announces, hoisting Audrey up in the air slightly before pulling her against his chest. “Quick, let’s run away before Mom can steal you back!”

“Oh, Finn!” Carole laughs. “And I’m glad to hear you did well on your finals. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble keeping your eligibility, then, right?”

Finn’s face falls a little and he gives his mom a weird look. “Yeah, I wasn’t really worried about that, so. Yeah, it should be fine.”

“Oh, well, good.” Carole starts to walk towards the exit. “Burt’s going to rent a car on Monday morning so you three boys can share it, but since I was picking you up today and he’ll pick Kurt and Noah up tomorrow, it just didn’t make sense to pay the weekend rates.”

“Not like I’ve got any place to be,” Finn says. “I’m just going to sit around and play with Audie-Aud until her other brothers get here, aren’t I Aud? We’re gonna play!”

“I think you’ll be doing most of the work,” Carole says cheerfully, unlocking the car once they reach it. “So how was the end of the semester, other than finals? Met any other nice girls, since you and Theresa didn’t work out? Any more new friends?”

“Yeah, you know, I go out when I can,” Finn says, keeping his face turned towards Audrey. “I went to this big Hanukkah dinner thing with my friend Jill, so that was kind of cool. Sometimes me and Trish get a coffee or something after Singers rehearsal.” All of which is true, since they’re all girls and are friends, and they’re even mostly nice.

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Carole says. “Do you want to sit up here or in the back with Audrey?”

“If you don’t mind too much, I’ll sit back here with Aud. That way we can catch up on stuff.”

“Of course not. Just make sure and take off her snowsuit before you buckle her in.” Carole shakes her head. “But it’s just so cute!”

 

“This is getting to be, you know, our thing,” Noah says to Kurt as they each grab their carry-ons and start to get off the plane.

“Our thing?” Kurt asks, a bit puzzled. He stifles a laugh at the looks a few passengers give them at their carry-ons. Kurt has his laptop bag and an actual carry-on, while Noah has his backpack and his guitar. He wants to stop and explain that it’s just the hazards of traveling with a musician, but decides it’s easier not to.

“LaGuardia to Port Columbus. Port Columbus to LaGuardia,” Noah explains. “I mean, just this year we’ll have made the flight seven times. Plus two last year.”

“Oh, that’s true.” Kurt smiles slightly and they grab the large suitcase off the baggage carousel before heading upstairs to meet Burt. “I don’t know why, but I kept thinking it wouldn’t be too crowded here. And it’s not, compared to LaGuardia, but it’s still two days before Christmas.”

Noah shrugs. 

“Boys! Boys!” Burt’s voice cuts through the noise of the crowd. “Over here!”

Kurt still doesn’t see Burt, but they follow the sound of Burt’s voice through the crowd until a large clump of people suddenly moves and he’s just a few feet in front of them. “Dad!” Kurt says, stepping forward and giving him a quick hug. “I don’t know how you managed to spot us in the crowd.”

“You kinda stand out,” Burt says. “Also, your voice carries.”

“Oh, well.” Kurt shrugs. “I suppose so. But here we are! And we’ve got all our luggage, so.”

“Presents and everything,” Noah agrees.

“That’s great. Do you boys want to stop and get something to eat before we hit the road?” Burt asks, holding his hand out for Kurt’s bag. 

“Maybe before we leave Columbus behind?” Noah suggests as Kurt hands over the large suitcase. 

“That’s a good idea,” Kurt says. “Maybe over near Dublin.”

“Just let me know where. No hurry to get anywhere, right?” Burt says. 

“I suppose not,” Kurt says slowly, exchanging a look with Noah, who grins a little behind Burt’s back. No hurry, except that they haven’t seen Finn in a month.


	2. Lima for the Holidays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things change. Lima doesn't.

Finn’s lying on his stomach on the bed, in the room that used to be Kurt’s but is now ‘the guest room’, wondering why the hell he let Syd talk him into taking a class called Literature, Gender, and Sexuality to begin with, and trying to figure out what the deal is with all these Creole people in _The Awakening_. He’d kind of thought from the name of the class that the books would be a little sexier, but so far, it’s just all feelings and swimming and straw hats, and he can’t tell if this Edna person is supposed to be a lesbian or if her husband’s just sort of a douche.

“…night.” There’s a murmur of voices in the hallway, and Finn just calls out, quiet, “Yeah, goodnight!” without looking up from his book.

There’s a pause and then the click of a door shutting and locking followed by soft laughter. “Oh, you’re going to bed already?”

“Kurt!” Finn lets the book drop without worrying about saving his place. “Hey! You’re here already!” He springs from the bed and grabs both Kurt and Puck into a tight hug. “I wasn’t expecting you guys until later.”

“It’s already pretty late, dude,” Puck points out, his mouth right next to Finn’s ear, and then his mouth is _on_ Finn’s ear, kissing and nipping at the earlobe and Kurt’s lips are pressing against his neck lightly, over and over.

“Oh,” Finn hears himself saying. “Oh, _fuck_ , you guys.” He closes his eyes and tilts his head ever so slightly towards Puck. It’s already been way, way too long since Thanksgiving, and no amount of FaceTime or phone calls substitutes for this. 

“In a little while,” Kurt giggles against his neck, and then Puck’s mouth is on top of Finn’s, Puck’s tongue pushing insistently inside. One of Puck’s hands is in Finn’s hair, resting next to one of Kurt’s, and the other is sliding slowly down Finn’s chest. Kurt pushes his other hand under Finn’s T-shirt, working its way up Finn’s side.

Puck’s mouth tastes like chocolate milkshake, which is weirdly hot, and his tongue feels so good against Finn’s. At that moment, Puck’s hand slips under Finn’s waistband and then Puck’s fingers curl around Finn’s cock as he slowly pulls away. “Mmm, you taste good,” Puck says, voice low. “K, he’s so fucking hard already.”

“Oh?” Kurt’s hand disappears from Finn’s side and then presses against Finn from the front. “Oh, god, yes, he is.” Both of Kurt’s arms wrap around Finn’s neck, pulling Finn down into a deep kiss. Kurt’s mouth is hot and sweet, and Puck’s hand is loosely wrapped around Finn’s cock, fingers slightly spread, and any lingering self-doubt Finn might have had about making this whole thing work when it’s just a few days here, a week there, that all evaporates. Puck’s mouth is working at Finn’s nipples through his T-shirt, the fabric turning slightly damp from Puck’s breath and tongue.

Kurt’s mouth slowly moves away from Finn’s, and he grins up at Finn. “Mmm. I want to taste you,” he says very quietly.

“You were just tasting me,” Finn says. “Why’d you stop?”

Kurt giggles and Puck laughs against Finn’s chest. “Different tasting,” Puck answers. “And why’re you still dressed?”

“Different tas— _Oh_ , fuck, why am I still dressed?” Still laughing, Puck pushes down on Finn’s pajama pants while Kurt tugs at his T-shirt, and Finn ends up lying on his back across the bed, one of them on either side.

“Yes, so hard, darling,” Kurt says, running one finger down Finn’s cock. Finn makes a noise that is definitely not a whine, not at all. “Hard for us?”

“Yes,” Finn says. Talking suddenly takes a lot of effort. “For you.”

“Good.” Kurt’s finger moves and then before Finn can react, Kurt’s mouth is there, on the tip of Finn’s cock, his lips slowly inching towards the base as his tongue wraps around it. Finn moans, louder than he should, but he can’t exactly help it.

“Oh, god, Kurt,” Finn mutters. “That’s. That’s. God.”

“Such a nice mouth, isn’t it?” Puck says quietly, reaching out with one hand to rub across Finn’s nipple as he kisses Finn softly, mouth remaining closed. “Feels so good, doesn’t it? Look.” He slides a hand under Finn’s head, lifting it up slightly. “Look at his mouth stretched around you, look at you filling his mouth up.”

Finn looks. Kurt’s eyes are closed, his eyelashes dark against his cheeks, his lips pink and sliding down Finn’s cock. Finn has to close _his_ eyes, because it’s too absolutely incredible to even watch without coming in about five seconds; it always is, with Kurt. Puck stops talking, and then Finn realizes why when there are teeth biting gently at his nipple, followed by rough swipes of Puck’s tongue, before he moves to the other side.

Kurt moves slightly, changing the angle he’s sitting at, and then Finn can feel himself sliding further into Kurt’s mouth, deeper than seems should be possible, and Finn can hear himself making a high pitched whine. He buries one of his hands in Kurt’s hair and the other in Puck’s, and starts chanting, “Kurt, god, oh god, Puck, god, don’t stop don’t stop don’t stop.”

Puck raises his head just enough to turn it, the top of his head towards Finn’s head. “Mmm, gonna watch you fill him up,” Puck whispers. “Gonna watch you come for us, Finn.”

“Oh, _fuck_!” Finn groans, thrusting up into Kurt’s mouth and coming hard. Kurt’s mouth stays on him, sucking and licking, until he’s still, and then Kurt slowly releases him, kissing the tip before crawling up beside Finn’s body. Kurt’s hand cradles Finn’s jaw as he lowers himself to brush their lips together, first lightly, then with more pressure. Finn opens his mouth a little, the tip of his tongue darting out to touch Kurt’s lips. Kurt seems to take that as some kind of invitation, and his tongue thrusts deep into Finn’s mouth, the kiss going from almost chaste to pornographic in seconds.

“Well?” Puck says after a moment. “How’s he taste, blue eyes?”

Kurt looks up and grins. “Come here and have a taste.” Puck laughs and leans across Finn to meet Kurt in a sloppy kiss before Puck kisses Finn, too.

“Mmm. Tastes good to me,” Puck says, pressing his lips against Finn’s jawline.

“Me too,” Kurt agrees, but Kurt’s hands are reaching for the bottom of his sweater, and he pulls it off in one motion before repeating it with his undershirt. “We still have on too many clothes, baby.”

“Any clothes is too many,” Puck nods, and Puck pulls away to start undressing as well. When they’re both undressed, sitting naked on either side of Finn, they each pick up one of Finn’s hands and place them carefully on their cocks.

Finn wraps his hands around both of them, stroking upward a little and then back down. “You two are so beautiful,” he says.

“What do you want now?” Kurt asks. “We have plenty of time – and plenty of willingness, too.” He grins widely at Finn.

“I want… you. Both of you,” Finn says.

“Where?” Puck asks. “Do you want Kurt inside you? Do you want to be inside me?”

Finn takes a deep, slow breath. “Yes. I want that. Like…” He looks at Puck and then over at Kurt, still moving his hands on them. “Like the first time.” Always like that. If he had to choose one thing, and only one thing, that would be it. 

“Good,” Puck breathes. “We want you like that, too. All three of us connected.”

“Yes. Just like that,” Kurt nods. “Fuck, yes.” Kurt slides to the edge of the bed, picking up one of their discarded bags, and then scoots close again, pouring lube into his hand before urging Finn onto his side and handing him the bottle at the same time. His fingers push at Finn’s entrance almost immediately, two of them sliding inside together. “Ohh, you feel so good, darling.”

Finn cries out, softly, and his hand tightens around the bottle of lube. The tips of Kurt’s fingers twitch, and then he moves them slightly before repeating the motion. Finn makes another sound, louder this time, already feeling himself getting hard again, and Kurt sounds smug when he starts to talk again. “Oh, yes, there you are. Yes, beautiful darling.” Kurt’s mouth is pressed to Finn’s shoulder blades as he talks. “Make Noah feel the same way, Finn, get him ready for you to fuck him.”

Finn can’t answer, so he just nods, fumbling a little with the bottle as he flips open the lid and pours some lube into his hand. Finn brushes his fingertips against Puck’s opening, and Puck trembles slightly, his body moving into Finn’s touch. “Yeah, let me feel you.”

That’s all the encouragement Finn needs to push his fingers inside Puck, feeling Puck hot and tight around him. Puck pushes back again, a low noise escaping from his throat, and behind Finn, Kurt laughs. “Give him more, darling. You’re so nice and big.” Kurt’s own fingers thrust up further into Finn, and then a third finger joins them.

“Just get inside me,” Puck pleads. “All of you, Finn.”

“All of me, huh?” Finn says, leaning forward to nip at Puck’s shoulder. “Right now?” He flips the lube open again and quickly pulls his fingers out of Puck, pouring a little more lube into his palm and using it to slick himself up.

“Yes, now,” Puck hisses. “Need you.”

Puck’s still talking as Finn starts pushing inside him, hard and fast, until he’s all the way inside. “God, Puck,” Finn says, kissing the back of Puck’s neck and rubbing his face against Puck’s hair. “God, you feel so good.”

“Mmm,” is the only response Puck gives, his body relaxing against Finn. “Fuck, so big,” he adds.

Behind Finn, Kurt’s fingers stretch at Finn’s entrance for a few more seconds before Kurt plucks the lube from Finn’s hand and coats himself before starting to push slowly inside. “Oh, darling, yes,” Kurt murmurs. “We missed our Finn.”

“Missed you, too,” Finn says. “So much. God, I miss you so much.” He lets Kurt set the pace for all of them, pushing in and out slowly for a few minutes before gradually speeding up. Finn runs his hand down Puck’s side and hip, then sliding it around to wrap his fingers around Puck’s cock. Puck moans and his hips rock towards Finn’s hand as the three of them move together.

“Oh, fuck,” Puck mutters, and he’s probably a little too loud, too. “Oh, fuck, you two, fuck, fuck, so good.”

“Yes, so good,” Kurt echoes, and his speed increases with each thrust. “God, want us all to come together, my baby, my darling, all three of us, now now now.”

Finn thrusts almost wildly into Puck as he comes, saying “I love you, I love you,” into the back of Puck’s head, his hand moving on Puck’s cock. Kurt empties himself into Finn, buried deep inside him, and Puck comes with a low cry, coating himself and Finn’s hand. Finn’s body curls around Puck’s, and without really even thinking about it, Finn brings his sticky fingers to his mouth and licks them clean.

“Mmm.” Puck is the first one to speak. “S’good.” He turns towards Finn and slowly kisses him, and after a moment, Finn can feel Kurt’s lips on his neck.

“Good, darling?” Kurt asks, and Puck pulls back slightly, like he’s waiting on Finn’s answer.

“Perfect,” Finn says. “It’s perfect.”

“Luckily,” Puck says, sounding amused, “I don’t think Carole will notice that the air mattress won’t really be slept on.”

“I can kick the blankets around in the morning,” Finn says. He puts an arm around Puck and pulls him close.

“Why add a chore to every single morning?” Puck shrugs and tucks his head against Finn’s shoulder, closing his eyes. Finn rolls a little more onto his back and puts his other arm around Kurt.

“Every morning?” Finn asks.

“Did you _want_ to sleep on that thing?” Kurt asks sleepily. “Because we didn’t really want you to.”

“I didn’t really want me to, either,” Finn says. “This is much better.”

“Yes.” Kurt sighs and wiggles a little. “We love you, Finn.”

Finn lets his eyes close and pulls Kurt and Puck a little closer. “I love you. I love both of you.”

 

When Kurt wakes up on Christmas Eve morning, he and Noah are being covered rather thoroughly by Finn masquerading as a blanket. Kurt stretches a little and decides they’re taking up too much room, moving so that they’re all occupying a very small amount of real estate. “Good morning,” he whispers, trying to see if either of them are close to waking up. And it is. They have four weeks of waking up like this ahead of them. 

Finn doesn’t respond, but he turns his face towards Kurt and buries it in Kurt’s hair with a soft sigh. Noah moves slightly, too, his eyes blinking before closing again. 

“Thought you said you didn’t need sleep, darling,” Kurt teases Finn quietly, bringing a hand up to run through Finn’s hair. 

“He lied,” Noah mumbles, eyes still closed. “Otherwise he’d be kissing someone by now.”

“Hmm?” Finn lifts his head slightly. “Is sex happening?”

Kurt giggles a little. “Did you want there to be?” He thinks about slipping out of bed and into the shower, but there’s time later, and he’s not sure who’s awake just yet.

“Yes,” Finn says, his tone slightly whiny and a grumpy look on his face. “It should already be happening.”

“You weren’t awake yet,” Noah says. “Everyone has to be awake for sex. Unless we’re getting kinky.”

Kurt giggles. “Not right now.”

“If there’d been sex, I’d have woken up before now,” Finn grumbles. “Sex is good for waking up. We should do that now.” He rolls onto his side facing Kurt, and pulls Kurt towards him. 

“I think we can accommodate that,” Noah says, grinning and reaching behind him for the bottle of lube. “Don’t you, blue eyes?”

“I don’t know. Awfully forward of you, darling, sex with no kisses first?”

“Never said no kisses,” Finn says. “But it’s ok to wake me up for sex even if you don’t want kisses first, just so you know.”

“You’d be sad, though,” Noah points out, and Kurt can see Noah’s arm start to move slowly, his lips on Finn’s shoulder.

“Nope, I’d just get my kisses in the middle, instead of the beginning,” Finn explains. He curls around Kurt and brushes his lips against Kurt’s earlobe. “Morning, bossofme.”

Kurt smiles and moves his hand over Finn’s head again. “Good morning.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’d make you happy, though,” Noah says to Finn. “You want kisses all the time.” He pauses. “Not that we’re complaining.”

“I said I _could_. Didn’t say I want to,” Finn answers. He tucks his head into the curve of Kurt’s shoulder and kisses his neck. “Just that I could.”

Kurt giggles and tilts his head to the side as Noah hands the bottle of lube to Finn. “No, you wouldn’t want to,” Kurt agrees.

“Then we’d just have to give him more kisses, so he wouldn’t be sad. Isn’t that how it works?” Noah says. 

“Yes,” Finn says firmly, and Kurt can hear the click of the bottle, followed by Finn slowly pushing a finger inside him, Finn’s mouth still on the side of Kurt’s neck. 

“Mmm.” Kurt pushes back towards Finn’s finger. “Is Noah inside you, darling?”

Finn nods against Kurt’s neck. “Yeah. It’s a good morning.” He adds a second finger, moving them inside Kurt for a few moments before pulling them out and replacing them with his cock, pushing slowly in. “I want this morning every morning.”

“We get a month of mornings,” Noah says softly. “S’not nothing.”

“God, yes,” Kurt says, closing his eyes and relaxing against Finn’s chest. “Good mornings.”

Finn’s arm wraps around Kurt, pulling him closer as Finn moves inside him. His hand slides down Kurt’s chest, fingers spread, his thumb grazing lightly across Kurt’s nipple. “I want us to be in New York _now_ ,” Finn murmurs against Kurt’s neck. “So you can be loud.”

Kurt giggles again. “What if we promise to be very loud on Saturday night, darling?”

“ _Extra_ loud,” Noah adds.

“Sounds good,” Finn says. “Fuck, Kurt, you feel perfect.”

“Oh?” Kurt slowly squeezes around Finn. “Better?”

Finn lets out a low moan. “Perfecter. More perfect. Whatever, just, _fuck_ , Kurt, love you.” His hand moves lower, fingers splaying across Kurt’s stomach momentarily before slipping down to wrap around Kurt’s cock. 

“Don’t worry about grammar or whatever, darling,” Noah says with a low laugh. Kurt can feel the tips of Noah’s fingers against his side, and he can picture where Noah’s hand must be, on Finn’s hip. “But don’t just lie there and think about England, either.”

“Why would I think of— oh, _fuck_ , Puck, harder.”

“Think about us instead,” Noah says, and Kurt grins to himself, brings his arm up across his chest to reach behind him, his fingertips barely grazing Finn’s chest. 

“You heard him, baby,” Kurt says. “Need to fuck us harder.”

Noah must comply, because Finn cries out and rocks his hips forward, his hand moving faster on Kurt’s cock. Finn starts quietly talking into the crook of Kurt’s neck, mostly repeating “I love you” over and over.

Kurt presses into Finn’s hand, then back against him, listening to Finn, and when he’s sure none of them can hold out longer, he speaks. “Come for me, darling. Fill him up, baby, now, both of you, all of us, now.” He feels Noah stop moving, shuddering a little, and Finn presses his lips against Kurt’s neck as he comes. Finn’s hand continues moving on Kurt’s cock, and Kurt lets himself go, coming all over Finn’s hand before slumping back against Finn. 

“Now it’s a good morning,” Noah mumbles. 

“Now it’s a morning where I don’t wanna get out of bed,” Finn says, his face still pressed into the side of Kurt’s neck. “Let’s stay all day.”

“We’ll come back after breakfast,” Kurt decides. “Showers and breakfast and I think we’ll have the house to ourselves at least part of the day.”

“No living room sex,” Noah says sadly.

“Yeah, that doesn’t go over so well,” Finn agrees. “Oops.”

 

“It _is_ a good time to do it,” Kurt insists, picking up his laptop and sitting on the bed. “They’re all out. Who knows when that will be the case the rest of the week?”

“I feel like there should be a token protest made about it being Christmas Eve and that’s not the time to find out grades, something like that, but clearly I’m not the one to make that protest,” Noah laughs, surrendering to the inevitable and grabbing his own laptop. There’s no way Kurt’s letting them out of the bedroom without checking their grades first.

“You guys, I don’t wanna check my grades,” Finn says. “I’m so _happy_ and everything’s so awesome, and then I’m going to look at my grades and the happy’s going to go away.” Even as he’s protesting, though, Finn is reaching for his laptop.

“This way you know if you need to tell your mom that they aren’t posted until next week or not,” Noah says. “I mean, you don’t have to tell her your grades and all, but I wouldn’t want to let her know they’re posted and _not_ tell her while we’re still here.”

Finn nods and starts typing, then he pushes his laptop over to Noah. “I can’t do it. You’ve gotta do it for me. It’s logged in, so just… look and tell me how bad it is, ok?”

“Then who’s supposed to check mine?” Noah says, pretending to be indignant.

“Hey, I know! Kurt can do everyone’s!”

Kurt sighs and shakes his head. “No. Here.” He puts his laptop into Finn’s hands. “Noah, hand me yours. It’s like musical chairs, I suppose.”

Noah finishes typing in his password and then gives his laptop to Kurt, who still looks exasperated. “It’s just grades,” Kurt mutters.

“Easy for you to say. Burt puts _your_ grades up on the fridge,” Finn says, clicking on something on Kurt’s laptop. “Which class was it that you hated so much?”

“Stagecraft,” Kurt and Noah say in unison, though Kurt manages to inject a great deal more loathing into a single word. “And Dad only started the refrigerator thing as a joke,” Kurt continues in a normal voice. “He just forgot that it wasn’t funny after two or three or ten years.”

“Well, you didn’t make an A in Stagecraft,” Finn says. He sounds sympathetic, and he shakes his head sadly.

“I assumed as much, since there were no pigs flying alongside the plane on Sunday evening,” Kurt says dryly.

“Dude. Your school gives out pigs? That’s kinda awesome. Maybe you can get one next semester,” Finn says.

“No, the pigs are only for very bad Jews. Who know a butcher.” Noah laughs. “Wait, where do I go? ‘This Semester’ or ‘View All Grades’?”

“Uh.” Finn’s eyebrows scrunch together. “Whichever one that has my grades behind it when you click on it, I guess. Since all my grades are from this semester, it’s probably six of one, half dozen of the other, right?”

Noah shrugs and clicks on ‘This Semester’, then waits for it to load. Kurt is staring at Finn, one eyebrow raised. “Well?” Kurt finally says. “If you know I didn’t get an A in Stagecraft, I assume you do know the rest of my grades?”

“Do you want to guess?” Finn offers.

Kurt raises both eyebrows. “Do I look like I want to guess, darling?”

“Hmm. No, not so much,” Finn says. “Ok, so you made a B in Stagecraft. That’s not bad! A– in Acting I and everything else is an A. You did really great, Kurt. These grades are awesome.”

Kurt exhales slowly, looking slightly relieved. “I honestly expected an A– in the writing class, at best.” He frowns. “Wait, A– in Acting I? Did he seriously _mark me down_ because of my marketability?”

“Can they do that?” Finn asks, scowling. “I think they can’t do that. That’s not acceptable. Maybe I should call somebody and have that straightened out.”

“Oh, I’m sure he found a way to call it something else on an evaluation of a performance or similar,” Kurt says, shrugging. “And while in theory it’s an education for the sake of education, of course there’s a pre-professional aspect to the program. So an argument could possibly be made for his assessment of marketability being relevant.” He sighs. “Okay, Noah. Ready?”

“Just tell me I don’t have to retake English Comp,” Noah says wryly. “I would be very unhappy.”

“That’s an understatement. I would be, too.” Kurt purses his lips then grins. “But you don’t. C+ in English Comp.” Noah falls over in mimed relief. “You got a B in both your humanities intro and Theory II. An A– in Dictation II. And an A in everything else. Your GPA for the semester is…” Kurt seems to scroll down. “Ah. Here. Three point six zero.”

“Oh, did you want to know your GPA, too?” Finn asks. “I didn’t think about that. It wasn’t that important in high school. Yours is, uh… Oh, here it is! Three point seventy-five.”

Noah grins and bites his lip. “Well,” he says, looking at Finn. “I think you’re going to be surprised.”

Finn grabs Kurt’s hand and makes a face somewhere between a grimace and flinch. “Bad surprised?”

“Good surprised.” Noah laughs. “According to the note here, you made the Dean’s List.”

“What does that mean?” Finn asks. “That sounds like it could be bad.”

“No, that’s good, Finn!” Kurt says, squeezing Finn’s hand. “It’s like the honor roll.”

“Oh, yeah, I wasn’t ever on that,” Finn says. “Wait. I’m on that? I’m _on_ that?” His eyes widen and he blinks hard a few times. “I’m logged in as the right person, right?”

“How many people’s login information do you have?” Noah asks, then shakes his head. “No, don’t tell us, that way we have that plausible deniability stuff. Yeah, it’s you. Music theory, intro to psych, blah blah. Want your actual grades?”

“Yes!” Finn says, rocking in place slightly like he’s barely containing himself from hopping up and down in excitement.

“Okay. An A– in Music Theory, another one in your math class, and then an A each in your other two classes. GPA’s three point eight seven.”

“Holy shit. That’s… holy shit,” Finn says. “I mean, I knew I did a good job in that LGBT class, ’cause I already knew a bunch of that stuff, but holy shit, you guys!”

Kurt’s grinning widely and Noah can feel that he is, too. “You did so well!” Kurt says, almost squealing. “Noah, come over here.” Noah moves between them as Kurt releases Finn’s hand, Finn’s laptop still in hand. “Look, Finn!”

“Careful, we don’t want to kill him,” Noah says, laughing. “Look at you, darling. I bet you have one of the highest GPAs on the team.”

“You guys,” Finn says, his voice quiet. “I think this means I don’t have to move back to Lima and work at the tire shop. Ever.”

“ _We_ knew that,” Kurt says smugly. “But it’s good you’ve caught on now.” Kurt closes Noah’s laptop and gestures for Finn and Noah to hand him the other two before he carefully sets each of them in the floor. “You did so well.”

“Is this where we get to say ‘I told you so’?” Noah asks, putting his hand on Finn’s knee. “Because if it is, I’m ready. I promise we’ll only say it once.” He pauses. “A day.”

“Yeah, yeah, you told me so,” Finn agrees. “That’s why you’re the smart one.”

“Except you’re trying to put me out of a job. Lifting heavy things wasn’t enough for you anymore?”

“Well, I don’t really own much heavy stuff, and I’m only at your place sometimes, so I needed a hobby,” Finn says.

“K, we need to buy Finn some lead. Take back his other presents and we’ll just order some lead bars to be shipped to Madison, maybe.” Noah smirks at Finn. “As a bonus, Superman won’t be able to see through them.”

“At least no one’s attempting to take my job,” Kurt says loftily. “Not that either of you could.”

“Don’t worry, bossofme,” Finn says. “You’ll always, always be the pretty one.”

 

“Dad?” Kurt says from the doorway to the living room, tilting his head at the television and trying to determine what, exactly, Burt’s chosen for his Christmas Eve viewing. “Do you have a moment?”

“Give me a second. It’s almost to the commercial break!” Burt calls back. 

“Okay.” Kurt goes into the kitchen and steals one of the sugar cookies that he’s pretty sure Finn and Carole both insist aren’t supposed to be eaten until the next day. There’s something about Audrey putting out some for Santa and how no one else can have any of them until Santa’s had his. Considering “Santa” is three teenage boys and one couple in their early forties, either Audrey’s leaving a _lot_ of cookies out or Kurt’s just getting his share early. Once he grabs a glass of water, he sits down, waiting for the commercial break.

Burt walks into the kitchen and also grabs a cookie. “What’s up, kid?”

“Just thought we could chat before the craziness of getting ready for Santa,” Kurt says nonchalantly. It hadn’t been too hard to convince Finn and Noah not to let on that they’d all checked their grades. Now Kurt just has to lead his dad to the idea of celebrating whoever managed to get the highest GPA.

Kurt has not forgotten their discussions over the summer, and in this case, he’ll rather enjoy watching his dad eat a little crow.

“Yeah, sure,” Burt says. “What’s on your mind?”

“It’s been awhile,” Kurt says instead. “Funny how the semester seemed to go so fast and yet… it feels like it’s been so long since we were here.”

“Well, we added a whole new person since you boys left for college,” Burt says, chuckling. “And the house is different. I guess you’re adjusting to New York pretty well, too.”

“Yes. It’s— I know it sounds strange, but it’s comfortable there. Easier,” Kurt admits. 

“Can’t say I can relate, but I know Lima never really did feel like the right place for you,” Burt says, nodding his head slowly. “Always did figure you’d end up somewhere bigger and brighter.”

Kurt laughs. “You don’t get much bigger or brighter than New York, I suppose. I _am_ glad I didn’t try for NYU’s program, though.”

“You’re happy at your school, then?” Burt asks.

“Yes. Well, except for that stagecraft class, but it’s over now, thank god,” Kurt says, shaking his head slightly. “I think I managed to choose well, despite the fact that not everyone’s heard of it.”

“You think you passed that class? I know it gave you a lot of grief.”

“Oh, I think so. The grading wasn’t particularly stiff, just the time requirements.” Kurt purses his lips. “It’ll be interesting to see how all of us did, though.”

“Hopefully everybody passed everything, at least,” Burt says, looking somewhat put-upon. “There’s scholarships and eligibility to worry about.”

Kurt narrows his eyes slightly. “You do realize just how badly a student can do and still be considered academically eligible by the NCAA, don’t you?” Kurt knows he should shift the conversation to celebrating who does well, but he can’t let that slide. 

“What, it’s a C average, right?”

“A C average by the beginning of the _fourth year_. Twelve completed credits per _year_ , not semester, and at the beginning of sophomore year, a student’s GPA could be as low one point eight.” Kurt knows because he checked; in his late October quest to actually learn more about football, he’d decided he might as well know the NCAA regulations as well. Not that anyone, not even Noah, knows that Kurt studied all of this.

“Oh. Well, good then,” Burt says. “That shouldn’t be too hard at all.”

“No,” Kurt says, a bit dryly. “We should celebrate, though. Before we leave on Saturday, maybe Thursday or Friday?” he suggests, trying to sound like the idea just occurred to him.

“Sure, we could probably manage a little celebratory dinner once we find out you boys have passed your classes,” Burt agrees. 

“Maybe whoever has the highest GPA can choose… hmm, maybe dessert!” Kurt says, hoping he’s not laying it on too thickly. 

“So I’ll just go ahead and pre-order the cheesecake, then?”

“I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see,” Kurt says, and maybe he’s a bit too coy, but Burt will probably assume that Kurt thinks he’s got a lock on the highest GPA. 

“And that’s my show back on,” Burt says. “Anything else you wanted to talk about? We can catch up more a little later.”

“Go ahead,” Kurt says, waving his hand towards the television. “I’ll see you in a bit when we all play Santa.”


	3. Boxing Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn has lesbians, Sam has jock itch; Shopping without buying anything; Three chicks and Noah on a not-so-typical Wednesday.

“Tina volunteered to drive,” Mercedes’ voice says in Kurt’s ear. “So we’ll be there to pick you up in just a few minutes, and then we’ll get Rachel and head to the mall.”

“I know it’s nothing like New York!” Kurt can hear Tina saying in the background. “Or Boston or Atlanta, but we’re all here, at least!”

“Exactly.” Kurt can just picture Mercedes nodding. “See you soon, Kurt!”

“Okay, ’Cedes,” Kurt agrees. “I’ll see you momentarily.”

Kurt heads downstairs and finds his coat, then puts on a hat, scarf, and gloves before remembering he’s barely going to be outside, compared to New York. He shrugs and leaves it all on – it probably doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Sam’s already picked up Finn, and Noah left early to pick up Hannah and drive to Columbus, which means it’s just Carole and Audrey at home with Kurt.

“Carole, I’m going out for a bit. Mercedes and Tina are picking me up,” Kurt informs her, sticking his head into the living room, where Audrey’s happily nursing.

“Oh, have fun!” Carole smiles brightly. “You’ll be back by dinner, though?”

Kurt nods. “We all should be. Bye, Audrey!”

Audrey’s fist waves in the air, which Kurt decides to interpret as a wave, despite the likelihood that it was merely a random movement, and Kurt steps into the hall, peering out the barely–cracked door until he sees Tina’s car.

Mercedes squeals a little when Kurt climbs in the car, and Rachel and Mercedes both squeal when they pick up Rachel. Once they reach the mall, there’s a round of hugs, and Kurt mentally appreciates that he did, in fact, keep all of his winter accessories on.

“I can’t believe how long it’s been,” Mercedes says. “Months, you guys!”

“I know!” Rachel giggles and links arms with Mercedes and Tina. “I can’t believe I completely missed you and Mike over Thanksgiving, Tina. And even with Kurt in the same city, we barely saw each other all semester.”

“Didn’t you see Puck and him recently, though?” Mercedes asks. “You posted on Facebook about it, I thought.”

“I did!” Rachel continues, and Kurt exchanges a rueful glance with Tina. He’s beginning to wonder if either of them will get a word in edgewise. “We got together on the first night of Hanukkah. There’s a lovely deli not too terribly far from Juilliard that offered a four course meal.”

What Rachel doesn’t say, of course, is that the deli was literally around the corner from Kurt and Noah’s apartment, and she also fails to mention her surprise that Kurt came along. He’s still not sure what Rachel expected him to do instead on a Saturday night, and it was hardly a very religious observance of the holiday.

“How do you like Spelman, really?” Tina manages to say. “Everyone’s always asking me what it’s like to go to a women’s college.”

“Me too,” Mercedes says. “And it is different. But I love it! There’s girls there from everywhere across the country. What about you?”

“Oh, Wellesley’s great.” Tina nods a little, smiling. “I still feel a little awed by all the variety of clubs and activities, plus with Boston so close, there’s a ton of stuff to do there.”

“Not that you have any incentive to visit Boston,” Kurt remarks, smirking.

Tina giggles and half-heartedly swipes at Kurt’s shoulder as he holds the door open. “None at all. Actually, between my roommate and Mike’s, it’s been a little crazier than you’d think.”

“Glad we could provide a service, then.” Kurt pulls off his hat and gloves, but leaves his scarf hanging on either side of his neck. “Happy holidays.”

“And how _do_ you like New York, boo?” Mercedes says, turning to Kurt. “You barely post on Facebook, and you aren’t tweeting as often either.”

Kurt nods, because Mercedes is right. He does rarely post on Facebook, and most of his quotes probably seem random and nonsensical. He aims more for pith or humor on Twitter; most of his communication is direct, either with Noah, their friends in New York, or Finn.

“I love it,” he says candidly. “I mean, nothing is _perfect_ , of course, but yes, things are good. Classes are good, especially now that I’m done with the stagecraft requirement, and I love our neighborhood. Oh, and work’s more interesting than here, too.” He shrugs. “I have no real complaints.”

“Their apartment is so nice,” Tina says. “Small, of course, but it’s really nice.”

“You just liked having chips and salsa while we watched _Charlie Brown Thanksgiving_ ,” Kurt retorts with a grin. “And the bagels.”

“No, it was actually the spot to watch the parade!” Tina laughs. “Seriously.”

“I haven’t actually seen it,” Rachel says, sounding a little sheepish, and it’s true. Kurt and Noah have seen her only a handful of times since she arrived in the city at the beginning of September, and each time, they’ve met somewhere else.

“You should!” Mercedes says. “That’s crazy, girl. You can’t be that far away!”

And that, also, is true; the practice rooms Noah uses sometimes are actually on the same street as Juilliard, just on the other side of Broadway, and most of the time, it’s not worth Noah’s time to take the train one stop to home. Six blocks separate their apartment from Rachel’s dorm; it’s not far at all.

“I know! Things have just been so busy,” Rachel says. “Getting settled in, getting used to classes and the requirements of Juilliard.”

“It is definitely different in college,” Kurt says, trying to deflect some of the attention off Rachel, because she’s right. There’s plenty of new people to meet and new expectations to understand and meet. “But as I said, I have no complaints about New York.”

“Not even the weather?” Rachel teases, seeming relieved. “It does still get cold in New York. I thought I was going to freeze during exams last week!”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s anywhere I could live and never be cold. Except for perhaps Florida, but I don’t really want to ride out hurricanes, so I’ve had to rule that out.”

The other three all laugh, and Rachel tries to tug them all towards Claire’s before Mercedes overrules her and they continue through the mall. They eventually find their way into a few stores, and Kurt browses, spending more time watching the other three than he does seriously looking for anything. His clothing budget is a fraction of what it once was, as is his closet space.

“We need to all get together,” Rachel says as they walk towards the food court. “Everyone from glee club, I mean. Before our spring semesters begin.”

“I’m here almost a month total,” Mercedes says. “Classes don’t start until mid-January.”

“Oh, I’m going back to Wellesley for Wintersession, so I have to leave the day after New Year’s.”

“We’ll have to fit it in quickly, then,” Rachel says, looking thoughtful.

“Actually, quicker than you think.” Kurt raises his eyebrows. “Noah and I both only took one week off work, so we’re flying out on Saturday afternoon.”

“Saturday!” Mercedes frowns. “That’s not long, Kurt.”

“No,” Kurt agrees. “It’s not.”

“I suppose that’s why Noah was spending time with Hannah today,” Rachel says. “But your dad and Carole and Finn must all be disappointed. Well, and Audrey would be, I’m sure, if she were old enough.”

“Oh, Finn’s coming with us. His classes don’t start until near the end of January.”

“Finn’s going back to New York with you on Saturday?” Mercedes asks, and Kurt nods. “Well, I guess everyone’d better get together tomorrow or Friday!” She pulls out her phone. “I’ll text Brittany and Santana and Quinn, see which is better for them. Tina, do you know about Mike? Kurt—”

“Noah, Finn, and I are free either day,” Kurt interrupts. “But we can’t do both days, Dad and Carole want to plan something for one of them.”

“Mike’s free,” Tina says, and the small pause tells Kurt she’s thinking about Sam and trying to decide whether or not to mention him. From what Kurt knows, the break-up between Mercedes and Sam was neither sudden or hostile, but it’s still relatively fresh.

Mercedes types and nods, waiting for her phone to light back up, and when it does, she nods. “Tomorrow looks better.”

“Tomorrow it is, then!” Rachel beams. “We should meet somewhere for a meal, perhaps. I’ll text everyone once I get home this evening.” She opens her mouth to continue, closes it, then starts to speak again. “Oh! Look at that sweater!”

When they leave the mall a couple of hours later, Mercedes gives Kurt a strange look. “You didn’t buy a single thing, Kurt.”

“Au contraire,” Kurt says. “I bought some food.”

“No _clothes_.”

“My closet space is more limited these days, you know.” Mercedes makes a face but nods, and the four of them pile back into Tina’s car. There’s a continual stream of chatter as Tina drives them home, dropping off Mercedes and then Rachel before continuing towards Kurt’s house. Everything feels different, even with all of them back in Lima for a few days, and while Kurt had expected it, he still hadn’t really been prepared for it.

 

Noah leaves before Finn or Kurt either one, driving the rental car Burt had decided they needed for the week that the three of them were in town. When he gets to the apartment building, Hannah’s waiting just inside the door, bouncing happily.

“This is so cool, Noah!” she proclaims as she buckles into the backseat. “I can’t believe I finally get to meet Beth!”

Noah laughs. “You might not think it’s so cool when you consider the four hours you’re spending in the car today,” he points out, feeling like he should give Hannah one last out. Today was the only day Shelby had free for him to see Beth, but it was also the one day Hannah had totally free. Thankfully, Shelby’d been fine with the idea of Hannah meeting Beth.

“It doesn’t matter. I brought my DSi, two books, and four CDs for you to play.”

“You’re very confident in your persuasive powers.”

“Of course I am!” Hannah giggles.

She does manage to mostly entertain herself on the drive to Columbus, playing on her DSi and then reading one of her books. Noah tries to concentrate on the traffic and navigating to Shelby’s house. He’s Skyped a few times with Beth, enough that she recognizes him now, but in person is different, different enough to make him nervous.

When they get to Shelby’s, though, the front door is open, and after a moment, Beth runs in front of the glass, smiling.

“Is that her?” Hannah asks. “Oh, she’s so cute!”

“That’s Beth,” Noah says, somewhat unnecessarily, turning off the key and climbing out.

“Daddy!” Beth greets him as soon as Shelby lets them inside. Noah picks her up and Beth wraps her arms around his neck. “Who dat?” she asks a minute later, pointing at Hannah.

“I’m Hannah!”

“That’s my sister, Hannah,” Noah tells Beth.

“Han?”

“Close enough, yeah,” Noah agrees.

Hannah wrinkles her nose at Noah, but then grins.

“Hello, Noah,” Shelby cuts in, smiling. “And hello, Hannah.”

“Hi,” Hannah replies, and Noah’s almost amused to note how shy Hannah suddenly seems. “You’re Shelby?”

“I am.” Shelby offers her hand, which Hannah shakes, perking up slightly.

“I never got to meet her before,” Hannah says to Shelby. “Quinn lived with us for awhile, but she complained all the time about bacon. And then she moved out before Beth was born.”

Shelby nods, and Noah doesn’t contradict Hannah’s recollection, though the complaints about bacon weren’t quite as continual as Hannah remembers. He sets Beth down carefully, so that Hannah can see her. “Can you say hi to Hannah?”

“Hi, Han!” Beth waves her hand and Hannah holds out hers, and after a few seconds, Beth touches her hand to Hannah’s. 

Noah bites his lip and avoids looking directly at Shelby, because he’s managed the trip without tears or Xanax, so far, and he’d really like that to continue. 

“Hi, Beth,” Hannah whispers. “You’re my niece, did you know that? I’m your Aunt Hannah!”

Beth nods, even though Noah’s pretty sure that she doesn’t have any idea what any of that means, and Shelby ushers them all into the living room. “I thought we’d just stay here, if that’s okay?” she asks Noah, and he nods. 

They do spend the rest of the day at Shelby’s house, and after lunch, Beth takes a nap and Hannah reads one of her books while Noah and Shelby talk quietly. Mostly, Shelby wants to know how college is going and how Noah likes New York, but near the end of nap time, Shelby mentions visiting New York at some point during the spring, since it’ll be months before Noah’s back in Ohio, barring anything out of the ordinary. Luckily, Noah does have his calendar synced on his phone, and they discuss a couple of possibilities, which draws Hannah’s attention.

“I’m going to visit in February,” she tells Shelby. “Over our break. Mom’s going to let me fly alone. I already have a ticket!”

Noah nods at Shelby’s questioning look, and Shelby looks briefly surprised before smiling at Hannah. “I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time, then.”

“I will! I can’t wait to go to Central Park. And see where Noah works now, and all of that.”

Beth wakes up just a few minutes later, and Noah spends the afternoon learning the intricacies of several of Beth’s favorite toys and ‘games’. The afternoon comes to an end more quickly than Noah anticipates, though, and he pulls into a gas station just around the corner from Shelby’s house after they leave, to check his messages and generally pull himself together. 

“That was fun, Noah,” Hannah says quietly. “But I think it’s a little sad, too. It’s too bad you can’t see her more often.”

“Yeah.” Noah exhales. “It is. But she’s happy, and she loves Shelby, and she has a good life, you know? And… so do I. It really was the best thing for everyone, as much as it’s still not easy.”

Hannah nods like she understands, though Noah would bet she doesn’t. There’s no way he could have at her age, or even three years older than her. He didn’t even at age sixteen, in the midst of it, but he does now. It still isn't something that sits comfortably, not fully, but Noah can feel the difference that comes with accepting it. 

 

Sam picks Finn up at ten, and they try to figure out where they’re going as Sam backs out of the driveway. Sam’s vote is for pool, Finn things bowling might be better, but it’s the fact that it’s ten and the pool place isn’t open yet that actually makes them decide on bowling. It’s good they got there early, because Finn rents the only pair of shoes they carry in his size, and it’s pretty empty.

“Too bad Karofsky didn’t come back for Christmas,” Finn says. “Would’ve been cool to compare Big 10, SEC, and ACC.”

“Yeah, guess he had something going on in Atlanta.” Sam shrugs. “I mean, they didn’t make a Bowl, did they?”

“Nah,” Finn says, shaking his head. “Have they even been in a real Bowl in years?”

Sam laughs. “Guess that’s what happens at a place like Georgia Tech. Last real Bowl they were in, we beat ’em.”

“Every conference has its strong points,” Finn says, doing his best to keep a straight face. “Some are just, like, stronger or whatever.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sam grins. “And look at you, getting to start already. I didn’t hear about it until the next day, friend of mine was all ‘did you hear about the true freshman getting to start in Wisconsin?’ and I was like, really? Are you sure it was Wisconsin?”

“Yeah, it was Wisconsin,” Finn says. “Who knew, right?”

“Hey, but one of my roommates gets _Sports Illustrated_ and that article a couple of weeks ago said you were practically a shoo-in for starter next year. That’s pretty awesome!”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see.” Finn knocks on the back of his seat, which now that he thinks about it, probably isn’t really wood. It’s that fake wood made out of plastic, but that probably counts. “I guess anybody could have an exploding appendix.”

“No one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition,” Sam says, nodding solemnly. “Seriously, though. You like it up there?”

“It’s pretty great, man, seriously,” Finn says. “Programs great, classes are awesome, my roommates pretty much rock. Plus, I’ve probably got the only lesbian cheering section in the Big 10.”

“Wait, what?” Sam looks confused. “A lesbian cheering section?”

“Oh, yeah. You remember my friend Syd I mentioned?”

“What? Oh, yeah, the one that thought Tina was hot or whatever.”

“Well, I mean, who doesn’t think Tina is hot?” Finn says, laughing. “But yeah, she and some of the other girls from the QSA started coming out to the games. It’s really cool, especially since Jill is the only one who actually cared anything about football before.” He laughs again, and adds, “They even make signs. The last ones said ‘Eleven’s Lezzies’!”

“Eleven’s Lezzies,” Sam repeats, chuckling. “That’s pretty cool, dude.”

“I know. I had no idea I’d get my own lesbians at UW, but I guess I lucked out,” Finn says. “So, you liking LSU?”

“Yeah, it’s great. Our strength and conditioning coach is really big on core strength and abs, so that was pretty awesome right from the start.” He grimaces. “I learned why the jock itch cream was on the list, too. It was like the first day of school back in elementary school, where we pooled all the school supplies? Yeah. There’s a cabinet that’s just jock itch cream. And, then, well. We practiced in the middle of a hurricane. It’s always damp, though, dude.” Sam shakes his head. “Oh, and the frat’s pretty cool, too.”

“Me and the frats just didn’t see eye to eye, mostly,” Finn says. “Glad you’re enjoying it, though. Meeting a lot of nice people?”

“Yeah, I mean, not so much time for socializing this semester, but next semester should be great. There’s a couple of other players in the frat, so they weren’t expecting us at every single event. Guess it’s time to get back out there soon, start dating again.” Sam raises his eyebrows. “What about you? Meeting any girls that aren’t lesbians?”

“Yeah, I’ve been out with a few. None lately. I’ve got more important stuff going on in my life right now, you know?” Finn sort-of explains. It’s accurate, anyway.

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Sam shrugs. “Look at us, though. Who’d’ve thought?”

“What? That I’d have lesbians and you’d have jock itch?” Finn shakes his head. “Probably nobody.”

Sam laughs. “Yeah, exactly. Nobody at all. Well, except for you and Karofsky, on the jock itch thing. You think Karofsky’s gone through his hand sanitizer yet?”

“I don’t know, dude. All we’ve done is text and I didn’t ask. I’m pretty sure you can’t just ask somebody about his hand sanitizer use and have it be cool.”


	4. Normal for Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The people that they used to sing with.

“No, darling,” Kurt says. “You have to.”

“You really do,” Noah laughs, finishing writing on the Burger King crown as Kurt pulls the rental car into a spot at Old Barn. “I even made an addition to it for you.” Noah climbs out and hands it to Finn. 

“I don’t know if I can get through the door without it being knocked off, you guys.” Finn unbuckles Audrey from her car seat and takes the crown from Noah, setting it on his head as he balances Audrey against him. 

“Then we’ll make sure to put it back on you.” Kurt shrugs airily. “It’s not that big of a hardship.” He looks around the parking lot as they head towards the door. “Isn’t that Sam’s car?”

“Yeah. I think that’s Tina’s,” Noah says, pointing across the lot. “This is either going to be fun or really strange. Let’s place our bets.”

“Strange,” Finn says. “That’s why I have a baby.”

“So we have an exit plan?” Noah asks.

“Cutest escape plan ever,” Finn coos at Audrey, who responds with a big toothless smile. “Audie-Aud’s a distraction and an excuse all wrapped up in a squishy, awesome package!”

“With poop,” Noah laughs, shooting a grin at Kurt, who rolls his eyes and shakes his head. 

“And that’s why we have a Finn. Well, not the only reason,” Kurt says, opening the door for Noah and Finn. 

“Kurt!” Rachel calls across the restaurant. “Noah! Oh, look, Mercedes, Finn has Audrey!”

Finn pulls Audrey a little more tightly against his chest as they approach the table. “Yeah, I have Aud, alright. Hey, Rach. Hey, Mercedes.”

“Look at that adorable baby!” Mercedes says. “And look at all of you. I almost didn’t recognize you, Puck.”

Tina laughs. “He doesn’t look _that_ different.”

Noah just shrugs, and luckily Mercedes and Rachel are distracted by the arrival of Sam and Artie. “Hello, everybody,” Artie says, waving. “Oh, there’s a baby here!”

“Yes, our sister,” Kurt says, waving back. “Finn is in charge of poop.”

“Lesbians and poopy diapers, dude,” Sam says to Finn. 

“That’s my life,” Finn agrees.

“Lesbians?” Rachel asks, looking pretty perplexed, and Noah presses his lips together in an effort not to laugh. Unfortunately, he catches Mike’s eye, and Mike’s already starting to laugh.

“Yeah, lesbians,” Finn says. “I have a whole cheering section. They come to my games. It’s pretty awesome. I think next year they’re getting shirts.”

“The Elevens,” Noah manages to say with a straight face, only because he doesn’t look directly at Rachel or Mercedes either one.

“Because that’s my number,” Finn explains. “I’m number eleven.”

“I’ve never heard of a lesbian cheering section before,” Mercedes mutters, and Noah’s not sure if they were supposed to hear her or not. 

“Holy shit,” Santana says from behind them. “I finally get to say it out loud. Puckerman, your queer’s showing.”

Noah turns around, snorting. “Yeah, you wouldn’t know anything about that, Lopez.”

“Oh, hey, Britt!” Sam says. “How’s Miss Butter Nibs?”

“She’s great!” Brittany squeals. “We’ve started her in some therapy while we’re home for the holidays. She has a hard time with confrontation.”

“Who or what is a ‘Miss Butter Nibs’?” Kurt whispers to Noah who shrugs. They both look at Finn, who shakes his head.

“Roommate?” Finn offers.

“That’s a horrible name,” Noah says quietly. “Who names their kid ‘Butter’?”

“Maybe she’s Canadian,” Finn says. “Or, like, Belgian. Maybe ‘Butter’ means something else in Belgium.”

“Like a waffle,” Noah says. 

“I think it’s actually her cat,” Tina says, having scooted closer to them. “Hi, Audrey! Do you remember me?”

“A cat named…” Kurt trails off, then shakes his head. “Nevermind. And of course she does. As much as she remembers any of us, to be honest.”

Finn turns Audrey towards Tina, and sure enough, she immediately breaks into a gummy smile, waving her little arms. “You want to hold her?” Finn offers. He almost sounds sincere, even.

“Ooh!” Tina lights up, probably because she knows how rare the offer is, and scoops up Audrey before Finn can change his mind. “We’re going to reminisce, aren’t we, Audrey?”

“You’ve gotta give her back!” Finn says. 

“I couldn’t feed her anyway,” Tina says, laughing. “She really just wants to watch Mike again.”

“I’m fascinating to watch,” Mike agrees. 

“But seriously, you’ve gotta give her back,” Finn repeats. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t play pass the baby,” Tina reassures Finn, speaking more quietly. “Rachel’d probably try to make her do vocal exercises or something, and Sam would start talking to her about the bowl games and why it’s a crime LSU isn’t in the National Championship.” Tina pitches her voice higher and looks at Audrey. “You’re far too young to be subjected to all of that!”

“ _I’m_ too young to be subjected to all of that,” Noah deadpans. “And since only K’s older than me, that means none of us should be. Right?”

“Oh, I’m definitely too young,” Kurt agrees, smothering a laugh. 

“You’re so old, bossofme,” Finn says. “You’re practically a mummy. A really awesome mummy of, like, a king or something.”

“Finn, are _you_ a king?” Brittany suddenly blurts in Finn’s direction.

“He is!” Kurt answers her. “We stopped by Burger King for the crown and everything.”

“King of what, exactly?” Mercedes asks, sounding suspicious for some reason. What does Mercedes _think_ he’s the king of? 

“He’s the GPA King,” Noah answers her. “See?” He points to where he added “GPA King” along with Finn’s actual GPA. “So we had to get him a crown.”

“So, he has the highest GPA or something? Out of who?” Mercedes says. 

“The three of us. We didn’t exactly hack into that many people’s grades,” Kurt says brightly. 

“Out of the whole world,” Finn says. “It’s so high, they’re actually having me go work for some… uh. Really smart people.”

“Yeah, right.” Santana looks between Finn, Noah, and Kurt skeptically. “Frankenteen had a higher GPA than either of you.”

“He does,” Noah says, narrowing his eyes a little. “See? Three point eight seven. Right there.” He points to where it’s written on the crown. “That’s Dean’s List, by the way.”

“And yes, Santana, they were ‘real’ classes,” Kurt interjects, making air quotes. “Not football player only classes.”

“Hey, there’s nothing _wrong_ with those, either,” Sam says, but he’s grinning. 

“Huh.” Santana looks at Finn almost appraisingly. “Well, damn, Hudson. Go figure.”

“I know, right?” Finn says, shrugging. “I blame Syd.”

“Syd?” Artie asks. “Isn’t she the one you said that Mike—”

“Shhhhh!” Finn and Mike both hiss in Artie’s direction. The noise startles Audrey, who starts to fuss. 

“Am I missing something?” Tina asks, looking closely at Finn and then Mike as Kurt takes Audrey back from her, jostling her gently until she stops fussing. 

“I can take her back if you need me to,” Finn offers. “Just, any old time, you can give her back!”

“Audrey’s a pretty name,” Quinn says, stepping away from Brittany and Santana to take a closer look at Audrey. “I was a little worried she’d end up named Flurry or Twilight.”

“They came up with it,” Noah answers, gesturing between Finn and Kurt. “After we established Journey wasn’t a baby name.”

“You mean it’s an _awesome_ baby name,” Finn mutters. “Just not for Aud. She’s classy. She’s so classy she could be in black and white.”

“Okay, then,” Quinn says politely. “She is a beautiful baby. She looks a lot like you, Kurt.”

“It’s the hair,” Finn explains. “She has excited hair.”

“I do not have a baby nose, Finn,” Kurt says, though he nods at Quinn. 

“You a little bit have a baby nose,” Finn says. “Or a baby a little bit has your nose.”

Tina clears her throat and grins, looking at Quinn. “They did this over Thanksgiving, too.”

“Finn,” Kurt breaks in, speaking slowly. “Finn?”

“Poop face?” Finn asks, already putting out his arms to take Audrey. “Audie-Aud, did you make poops?”

“Poop face,” Kurt agrees, handing Audrey back to Finn. 

“It’s not Kurt’s job,” Noah says to almost everyone, since apparently the word ‘poop’ made them pay attention.

“That’s true,” Finn says. “It’s my job. Well, one of my jobs. Like a part-time job. My main job is working out and then lifting the heavy stuff and reaching the high stuff.”

“And you’re very good at those, d—” Kurt cuts himself off abruptly. “All of them, I mean.” Noah’s pretty sure Kurt and Finn are thinking the same thing he is: Their flight on Saturday afternoon can’t come fast enough. 

“We’ll be right back. Say bye, stinky!” Finn holds up Audrey’s hand and waves goodbye with it before he walks with her in the direction of the bathroom.

“He’s really good with her,” Quinn says, sounding surprised. 

“He was bummed that she came after school started,” Noah says. 

“Yes. Well, he did end up with almost two days once he got here,” Kurt continues. “But not long.”

“She’s Finn’s practice baby,” Brittany declares. “Like Lord Tubbington was my practice cat for Miss Butter Nibs.”

“Ah.” Noah exchanges a look with Kurt, who shrugs discreetly. “Maybe so?”

“Guess who’s cleeeeaaaaaan?” Finn’s sing-song voice carries across the restaurant.

“We still won’t get her back, though,” Kurt says matter-of-factly.

“I did get to hold her for a few minutes!” Tina looks pleased. “That’s something.”

“So of course I said I was horribly flattered, but I didn’t think it was right for such a large role to go to a freshman! Even if it was just the understudy,” Rachel says, her voice suddenly louder. “I’ll be performing in Liederabends this next semester, though.” Noah shakes his head slightly, exchanging a smirk with Kurt. There’s no way Rachel’s telling the truth; freshmen don’t get to perform, period, not at places like Juilliard or Mannes.

“I can’t wait to find out about the Chamber Singers,” Mercedes counters, even though ostensibly they’re having a conversation. “They get to travel around to represent Spelman, which is so exciting! And there’s a recital for underclassmen in the spring, too.”

“It’s just a shame there aren’t even more performance opportunities. I really think more of my classes should include a weekly or even daily performance component. There’s no substitute for that experience. I’m hopeful about my spring classes, though.”

“That’s right,” Mercedes nods. “Every class! It should be every class, every opportunity.”

“Oh, but I’m learning so much Italian!” Rachel rattles off a sentence that probably just means Italy is shaped like a boot or something.

Finn leans over and whispers in Noah’s ear, “Sometimes I feel like I dodged a bullet.”

“Oh, I _know_ you did,” Noah whispers back. “How long until we can ditch this?”

“As soon as Kurt says. You should ask him if he says yet.”

“We could try looking pitiful at him,” Noah suggests. “Maybe if he was going to say not yet, he’ll change his mind.”

Finn immediately puts on the saddest possible face and turns his head in Kurt’s direction. Noah follows suit and Kurt starts to laugh quietly. “I take it you two would like to leave now?” Kurt says softly, and Noah nods fervently. Finn jostles Audrey slightly, and she lets out a squawk of protest.

“Aud might need a nap or something,” Finn says. “I bet a _lot_ of people would like to go to bed, Kurt.”

“You are the one with the high GPA,” Kurt muses. “You might be on to something.”

“Rachel and Mercedes won’t even notice. They’re too busy either competing or comparing. Or both,” Noah says.

Kurt snorts, then stands up slowly. “We have to get Audrey back home momentarily,” he announces to the table.

“You guys didn’t even get any dessert,” Artie says. 

“We have, uh. Cookies. Lots and lots of Christmas cookies,” Finn says. “At home.”

“It’s true. It turned out ‘Santa’ didn’t have as large of an appetite as estimated,” Kurt says dryly. “Plus tomorrow night we’re having… what are we having for dessert tomorrow night?” Kurt says, turning to Finn. 

“Uh… pie?” Finn says, shrugging slightly. “I think it’s pie.”

“It’s your choice, dude, remember?” Noah says as he stands as well. 

“Then it’s _two_ pies,” Finn declares. “If one pie is good, two pies is awesomer.”

Tina giggles, and Noah’s pretty sure he sees her wink at Mike, who ducks his head briefly. “We’ll see you sometime this spring,” she promises. “Have a good flight back!”

“Let’s do this again over the summer,” Mercedes says, grinning broadly, like it’s the best idea she’s heard all night or something. Noah isn’t sure that this was all that fun to begin with, because it’s not like Tina and Mike can’t visit them in New York. 

“We probably won’t be around,” Kurt says, moving to give Mercedes and then Rachel each a quick hug. “But don’t let our absence stop you.”

“Like they’ve ever let anything we did stop them,” Finn whispers to Noah.

“The other ten of us can still get together, though,” Rachel says with a nod. “I’m sure we can find some time that works.”

“No, nine of you,” Noah corrects her as they continue saying their good-byes. 

“Nine?”

“Yeah, I don’t think Puck’s gonna come back here to visit,” Finn says. “I think monkey–face is going to New York to see him instead.”

“She meant you, dude,” Noah says. “Not me.”

“Me? Why would she mean me?” Finn asks, sounding genuinely confused. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Most of them don’t understand our sinister plan to keep you in New York as much as possible,” Kurt answers. “Finn won’t be in Lima this summer either, Rachel, is the point we were all trying to make.”

“Oh.” Rachel looks startled, but then shrugs. “Nine of us, then.”

They finally disentangle from everyone’s waves and hugs and head back to the car. “That was strange,” Noah says as they walk across the lot. “Definitely on the strange side of the fun–strange continuum.”

“It didn’t feel the same. I thought it would feel like it used to,” Finn confesses. “It didn’t at all.”

“No, it didn’t,” Kurt agrees, nodding as he unlocks the rental car. “Some of them felt very far away. Not down the table, but figuratively speaking.”

“Question is, I guess, did we change, did they, or did all of us?” Noah ponders.

“Had to be them,” Finn says. “I still feel perfectly normal.”

“Oh, then it was definitely you that changed,” Noah says, faking alarm. “You’ve never been normal!”

“Normal for us, asshole, and we’re the only ones that count.”


	5. Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have a month in NYC to settle into a routine that can't last past January 22nd.

Finn hadn’t planned on spending his last night in New York being the table for naked Thai food dinner, but now he’s lying diagonally on his stomach across the spread-out futon with a row of cartons balanced across his back and strict orders that he’s not to laugh too hard and spill Puck’s massaman curry.

“Under pain of death, asshole,” Puck says, but he has his fingers brushing against Finn’s side.

“If I spill it, you can lick it off me, asshole,” Finn retorts. “Everybody wins.”

“God knows where we’d be finding rice for the next week,” Kurt says. “Rice sticking everywhere and to everything.”

“I’m pretty sure rice is like sand,” Puck says, wincing. “Some places you don’t want it.”

“Then you’d better do a really good job licking it off,” Finn says. “I think I’ve eaten all I can eat, anyway, so I’m doing being a table now.”

“Should have worked out more this morning?” Puck suggests. “Then you could have eaten more.”

“We were gone for hours,” Kurt agrees. “Lots of running.”

“I slept some. Didn’t figure I’d get too much tonight, and then the flight’s so early.” Finn holds still until Kurt and Puck remove all the cartons from his back, then he sits up. “Didn’t want to waste our last night on sleeping.”

“No, I agree,” Kurt says, and Puck nods.

“That’d be a waste.” Puck slings one leg over Finn’s, his fingers brushing down Finn’s side again.

“We’ve made such good use of our time every other night,” Kurt says, smirking a bit.

“I’ve got excellent time management skills,” Finn says, nodding seriously. “I had to sit through a whole lecture on that.”

“Oh, very excellent.” Puck grins at both of them. “We’ve managed to do all sorts of things in the past few weeks.”

“Mostly sex and eating,” Finn says. “So, yeah, that’s awesome use of our time. Go us!”

“We did other things.” Kurt pauses. “We… we went down to Times Square for New Year’s Eve. You two went to that arcade in Midtown. Oh! We went out with Allison that one night.”

“And Finn worked out while we just worked,” Puck adds.

“Yeah, and that was eating before and sex after, sex before and eating after, sex before _and_ after eating, and I think eating and sex at the same time at least twice in there,” Finn lists. “So still mostly sex and eating.”

“Is that a complaint or a request for a repeat performance?” Kurt asks.

“I would never complain about sex. Or eating.”

“Request for repetition, then!” Puck grins. “Well, we did just eat.”

“So true.” Kurt leans his head against Finn’s shoulder. “And handily, we’re already naked.”

“We’re always naked,” Finn points out. “Unless we’re out somewhere. Did I mention I really don’t like going places? We shouldn’t go places. We should stay here all the time when I’m in New York.” Finn puts one arm around Puck and pulls him the rest of the way into his lap. “And you should sit _here_.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Puck mutters, grinning. “But ‘we’re always naked’ sounds like a sign someone puts on their front door in their small town behind the white picket fence. Just to scare the neighbors.”

“You could ask Treadmill Guy to borrow his treadmill,” Kurt says, “but that’d still mean leaving _this_ apartment, sadly.”

“Nope,” Finn says. “Not until I have to. I might even do cat-in-a-bathtub and you guys’ll have to, like, peel my fingers off the door frame like in the cartoons.” He curls his body around Puck’s so he can kiss Puck on the side of his neck. “And one of these days you won’t be able to get me off the door and I’ll have to stay here forever.”

“That’s horrible,” Kurt says flatly. “What would we do.”

“I don’t know,” Puck says soberly. “It would be. Uh. Tragic.”

Finn moves to the other side of Puck’s neck and nips at him. “Totally tragic. I’d have to get a job or whatever, and since I’m only good at working out, it would have to be a working out job. Or a stripper job.”

“I don’t know how we feel about that, actually,” Puck says, tilting his head to the side. “I mean, maybe you missed it somehow, but—”

“—we’re rather possessive,” Kurt finishes, kissing down Finn’s arm.

“Yeah? That’s, like, mmmm. Surprising.” Finn closes his eyes and kisses the side of Puck’s neck again, then tilts Puck’s head up so Finn can kiss him on the mouth. Puck parts his lips under Finn’s, holding onto Finn’s shoulder with one hand.

“Oh, yes. Shocking.” Kurt slides his hand between Puck and Finn, his fingers running across Finn’s chest and then pinching gently at Finn’s nipples. “I don’t hear an objection on your part, however.”

Instead of objecting, Finn makes a squeaky noise into Puck’s mouth and pulls Puck down against him harder, rocking his hips a little. Puck pushes down, his other hand sliding into Finn’s hair, and he pulls back with a laugh. “That definitely wasn’t an objection, blue eyes.”

“No, not at all,” Kurt agrees, grinning, and he combs his fingers through Finn’s hair as well, tugging Finn towards him and kissing him while pinching again. Finn puts his other arm around Kurt and then falls back onto the futon, pulling Puck and Kurt with him.

“Happier now, darling?” Puck asks.

“Yeah,” Finn says. He’d be happier if he could be doing this tomorrow night, too, and the night after, instead of having to get up early and fly back to Madison for the start of his next semester of classes. That’s the morning, though, and right now, he’s happy. He rolls onto his side, toppling Puck over on the futon and then pinning him down, kissing him hard while running one hand down Puck’s side, stopping at his hip.

Puck moves into Finn’s touch, his hips shifting up, and behind Finn, Kurt runs both of his hands down Finn’s back, resting them on his ass for a few seconds before doing it again, his lips against Finn’s neck.

“So good,” Kurt murmurs between kisses. “So, so good, Finn.”

Finn lifts his head and says, “I love you guys,” before he starts kissing Puck again, shifting slightly to the side so he can slide his hand from Puck’s hip to wrap around Puck’s cock, moving his hand slowly.

“Love you too, darling,” Kurt says, his hands staying on Finn’s ass this time, squeezing it before both his hands disappear, one of them landing back on Finn’s nipples. “God, listen to you, both of you.”

Puck thrusts up into Finn’s hand, his fingers pulling at Finn’s hair, and he pushes his tongue into Finn’s mouth. Kurt likes to hear them, so Finn gives him something to listen to, moaning into Puck’s mouth as he moves his hand faster on Puck’s cock. Kurt’s hand moves again, this time wrapping around Finn’s cock, slick with lube, and as Kurt strokes, he pushes two fingers inside Finn.

Finn makes a low noise against Puck’s mouth, pushing himself up onto one hand and elbowing Puck’s leg up so Finn can position himself against Puck and push inside. Once he’s fully inside Puck, he leans forward again, resting his chest against Puck’s as he starts to move slowly, rocking back onto Kurt’s fingers and then forward into Puck.

“Impatient,” Puck forces out, almost laughing, and he thrusts up to meet Finn’s movements. “But not too impatient?”

Kurt removes his fingers, pushing himself into Finn smoothly, and he stays still for a moment as Finn moves. “Maybe we’re like a good beer or wine. Something to be savored for awhile?” Kurt asks.

Finn laughs, his face against the side of Puck’s face. “Yeah, I’m not good at drinking slow, either.” He thrusts into Puck faster, brushes his lips against Puck’s ear, and says, “Fuck, baby. Don’t tell me I have to go slow, ok?”

Puck laughs, turning his head to the side and pulling on Finn’s hair until he can put his mouth against Finn’s, kissing him hard and rocking underneath Finn. Kurt puts one hand back between Finn and Puck, running it up and down Finn’s chest, and he pushes in harder and faster with each movement.

“Oh, god,” Kurt breathes. “Oh, baby, darling, so good.”

It is good. It’s always so good, and Finn doesn’t know how much longer he can keep leaving this behind for weeks, and eventually months, at a time. He doesn’t want to think about that now, so instead he tightens his hand on Puck’s cock and kisses Puck even harder.

Kurt pushes inside Finn harder, his fingers on Finn’s nipples, and Puck’s fingers tighten in Finn’s hair. “Come for me,” Kurt whispers. “Come for me, both of you, now.”

Finn thrusts into Puck two more times before he starts to come, his mouth still crushed against Puck’s. Puck tightens around him, thrusting into Finn’s hand and coming a few seconds before Kurt starts to fill Finn, collapsing against Finn’s back afterwards. Finn shifts his weight to the side again before he lets himself relax on top of Puck.

“Love you guys,” Finn whispers against Puck’s face. “It’s just a few weeks, right?”

“Love you too,” Puck says quietly. “Not even a full month.”

“It’ll go quickly,” Kurt says, sounding more like he’s trying to convince himself.

“Yeah. A few weeks is nothing,” Finn says. “It won’t be so bad. We can do this.”

 

Noah groans at the sound of three iPhones going off at the same time, each set to a different sound. “Why did we bother going to sleep?” he asks, not really expecting an answer.

“Two hours is better than none?” Kurt offers anyway, starting to turn off the cacophony.

“Lies,” Finn mumbles. “Two hours is worse than everything.”

“This is the worst day,” Noah groans, starting to climb down, since he’s the closest to the ladder. “Sorry, Martin dude, ’cause it’s your birthday or whatever, but.”

“It’s not really his fault. Exactly.” Kurt yawns. “Is it?”

“Probably not,” Noah concedes.

“It’s somebody’s fault and I hate them,” Finn says.

“Not mine,” Noah and Kurt chorus, and Noah fumbles for the switch on the lamp.

“Hide your eyes,” he warns. Even with the warning, Finn still makes some kind of dying Godzilla noise when the light comes on. “Coffee in a minute,” Noah promises, heading into the kitchen and rifling around for three travel mugs while he listens to Finn and Kurt both climb down.

“It’s going to be cold, isn’t it?” Kurt says suddenly, like he’d forgotten it was winter.

“Let’s just stay here,” Finn whines. “I can miss the first day of class. It’s all syllabuses and stuff like that.”

“If you stay today, it’ll be too late,” Noah informs Finn. “We’ll restrain you and you’ll just be stuck here, like we talked about.” Satisfied that the coffee is progressing, Noah goes back into the main room to find some clothes, because Kurt’s right: it’s cold in the middle of the night.

Finn and Kurt are both dressed, Kurt already putting on his coat and scarf, and Noah hurries to finish while Finn picks up his bags. “It’s true, darling,” Kurt agrees. “You’d be reported missing and everything.”

“Shit. Ok, I don’t want that to happen, I guess.”

“Maybe it’s the lack of sleep talking, but suddenly I find that very amusing,” Kurt says, adding a hat and gloves to his ensemble. “Dad and Carole would call us, asking if we’d seen you, and we’d calmly tell them that no, we simply have no idea where Finn could be.”

“You’re evil, blue eyes,” Noah laughs, pulling on his boots and then grabbing their coffee from the kitchen. “Coffee. Time to go?”

“You could tell them I got lost in the subway,” Finn says. He takes one cup of coffee from Noah. “They’d believe that.”

“We know better, though,” Noah says, grabbing his own coat after Kurt takes the second cup of coffee. “Still, you could wander the subway if anyone actually came to look.”

“Yeah, but then they might find me!” Finn says. He laughs, but it sounds forced, and he looks around the apartment slowly.

Noah steps beside him, Kurt on his other side, and their hands meet at the small of Finn’s back. “It’ll be the same in a month,” Noah says softly. “Except for hopefully more food than we have right now.”

“You’d come even if we had an empty refrigerator, though, wouldn’t you?” Kurt says, tone almost too light.

“I’ll bring cheese in my carryon.”

“Then what else do we need?” Noah squeezes Kurt’s hand, pressing their hands against Finn as they head out of the apartment. The trip over to Newark takes longer in the middle of the night than it does during the day, because they have to use different trains, but they arrive with enough time for Kurt to insist on buying Finn some breakfast before he even gets in the security line.

“Text us. When you land, I mean, and again when you get to Madison,” Kurt insists.

“After you sleep on your flight,” Noah adds. “You can crash this afternoon?”

Finn nods. “Yeah, I should be able to.” He looks around them for a moment, then says, “I love you guys,” leaning forward to kiss Kurt and then turning to press his mouth against Noah’s.

“I love you, too,” Noah and Kurt both say quietly, not quite in unison, and they wrap themselves around Finn as much as they can.

“Not even a full month,” Noah repeats. “We’ll be waiting at the airport again.”

Finn holds them close and squeezes a little too hard before he releases them and slowly starts backing towards the security line, like he can’t quite make himself look away from them. 

 

“Hudson, why exactly did you laugh when you ordered your pizza?” Syd asks.

“Mushroom Madness, Syd!” Finn tries to explain, but honestly, it’s probably not even that funny. He’s just so tired that it seems funny. “There’s not even any surprise. Well, I guess that having a bite without mushrooms would be a surprise.”

“You wanted a surprise in your pizza?” Syd shakes her head. “Nevermind. How was your break?”

“It was great, really great,” Finn says. So perfect, being with them for almost a whole month, and that much harder being without them. “It was good. It’s hard to be back. Sorta strange, you know?”

“It must have been good, actually, ’cause you seem really tired. Either that or they’re already trying to wear you out at practice?” Syd says, squinting slightly as she looks at him. “You have _bags_ , Hudson.”

“My flight was really early,” Finn answers. “But yeah, I had a lot of fun, didn’t sleep all that much. More stuff to stay up for in New York, I guess.”

“You know you missed the sub-zero temperatures of Wisconsin,” Syd jokes. “You can admit it.”

“We went ice skating outside and I didn’t lose any fingers or toes,” Finn points out. “Pretty sure New York’s got a few things Wisconsin can’t compete with. Like weather. And other things.”

Syd scoffs. “I can’t believe you don’t prefer your scholastic pursuits over the vast entertainment options of New York, Finn. Hey, speaking of scholastic pursuits! You didn’t tell me yet. How’d your first college semester end up?”

“I did ok,” Finn say, grinning. 

“Okay as in the football team is happy or okay as in your mother’s happy?” Syd retorts. “Because ‘okay’ is not much of an answer, Finn Hudson.”

“Ok as in I got to pick dessert because my GPA was the highest,” Finn says. “I know my classes aren’t as hard as theirs, though, but yeah, my mom and Burt were a little surprised.”

“Dessert?” Syd repeats, sounding mystified. “You know, I’m not going to ask. But that’s great! See, you’re like.” She pauses. “Stereotype Buster. You could get a T-shirt.”

“I’ve already got a kickass T-shirt, Syd,” Finn says. “Puck gave it to me. Here, I’ll show you.” Finn unfastens his coat and unzips his fleece to display the T-shirt from Puck with bright blue letters declaring Finn to be a ‘Boychik Magnet’. “Thought it would go over pretty great at the QSA.”

“Oh. My.” Syd smothers a laugh. “Jill is going to be thrilled.”

Finn zips his fleece again and refastens his coat. “Isn’t it awesome? Kurt got one, too. We match. Sometimes Puck just gets really Jewish. It’s hard to predict when it’s gonna happen.”

“Suddenly, there was Judaism?” Syd asks, laughing. “That’s… I am not sure what that is, Hudson. You’re going to get hit on more than usual, you know.”

“Not possible, Syd.”

“You’ve made turning someone down into an art, Hudson. Too bad you aren’t Catholic. I could start a great rumor about you entering the priesthood.”

“I try to be gentle,” Finn says. “Everybody in Wisconsin is just so friendly.”

“Yeah, they want to be _friends_ with you, Hudson.”

“Everybody wants to be my friend, Syd, because I’m a gentleman and a scholar.”

“Mmmhmm. So, your family? Baby sister, brothers, all good?”

“Yeah, we brought Aud with us to the glee club meet-up,” Finn says. “She wasn’t really impressed, but seemed like maybe she remembered Tina. She _still_ likes me best, though.” Audrey is a safe topic; he’s not really ready to talk about _them_ yet, since it’ll be another month until he sees them again, and he has to pretend like everything is normal until then. “I have baby-magic.”

“Is she old enough to talk yet?” Syd asks. “Do you think she’ll be able to say your name?”

“Nah, it’ll still be months and months before she can talk,” Finn explains. “I have no idea how a baby would say ‘Finn’. It seems like it would be an easy name.”

“Isn’t ‘F’ one of those letters that people change when they ‘baby talk’?” Syd shrugs. “I don’t really know, though, obviously.” She looks appraisingly at Finn. “I bet the meet-up was weird. Was it?”

“Oh yeah. Everybody sort of clustered into little groups, and Rachel kept trying to schedule the _next_ meet-up,” Finn says. “I hung out with my buddy Sam for a while before that, though. He’s the one playing at LSU. Well, redshirting it at LSU.”

Syd nods, like that’s exactly the answer she expected. “She won’t manage it. Another meet-up with everyone. At least, that’s how it was with the girls I knew in high school. I didn’t even bother calling any of them for the few days I was around, this time.”

“Honestly, I’m fine with just seeing the ones I really want to see,” Finn says. “There’s some of them, I just don’t have anything to say to them, you know?” He shrugs. “It’s like they know a lot about parts of my life, and nothing at all about other parts, and there’s no way to really bridge that.”

“No, I know,” Syd agrees. “Some of them take longer to figure it out, though.”

“If it weren’t for Aud…” Finn trails off awkwardly.

“You would have been stuck at the meet-up longer?” Syd guesses. 

“I would have been happy to spend the whole break in New York.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Syd says. “Much more exciting.”

“Much more… exciting. Yeah,” Finn says, because he can’t talk about what it really was. He can’t tell Syd. He can’t tell _anyone_ , it’s finally hitting him how completely alone that makes him feel, and all he can do is keep playing the game, pretending to be their brother, even if it feels like losing an arm or a leg to be away from them for this long. It’s harder than he thought it would be. “Definitely more exciting.”

 

Everything is too quiet.

Kurt doesn't consider Finn to be particularly loud, nor does he think of Noah or himself as particularly silent, but with Finn back in Wisconsin and the two of them left without him, everything does, indeed, feel too quiet.

The snow that fell on Monday night doesn't have time to melt before Kurt and Noah get back to the Upper West Side. Kurt can acknowledge to himself that waiting for Finn to leave on Tuesday morning, with just a few hours before he has to be in class, is probably one of the stupider ideas the three of them have had, but as tired as he is, Kurt wouldn't change it. 

When they emerge from the subway, the city's waking up, and the snow is blowing everywhere. It’s Tuesday, which means they don’t have to work, and since their semesters haven't started, neither of them has to go to class.

They didn't plan this very well at all, because now there's absolutely nothing to distract them while they wait for Finn to text that he's arrived safely. Noah suggests they eat breakfast, so they go to the diner near Mannes and have breakfast. Once Finn's arrived in Milwaukee and then Madison, though, and they have his texts, there's nothing else to do. Finn's back in Madison, going to his classes, starting another semester, and that is that.

They walk around in the cold for too long before they text Allison and Zachary and make plans for later in the day. It won't leave them as much time to think about what—who—they're missing.

Kurt asks his boss for any extra shifts that come up in the week before his classes start, just in case, though none come up. On Thursday, he and Noah get the rest of their books for the upcoming semester, and if they make that take much longer than it should, neither of them comments on it.

When Noah heads to work on Friday afternoon, Kurt goes out to run a few errands, and he stops back by the Starbucks to get a drink. He comes home, putting down his bags and automatically starting to take off his coat, when the emptiness of the apartment hits him.

There's no Finn there. There's no Finn waiting for one of them to come home, no chance of coming home to find Finn and Noah wrapped around each other, no waiting just a bit longer for Finn to finish working out and come in both cold to the touch and also flushed with heat from running or lifting weights. He's just not there, and he won't be again for _months_ , not properly. Two nights over a weekend, even a few days over spring break, nothing's going to feel right until sometime in late May.

Kurt freezes, sitting down heavily on the futon. Everything will be good after that, throughout June and into July, but come August, he's going to feel just like this, and in the fall, barring some sort of disaster, Finn's going to be the starting quarterback. Kurt can see it, now, year after year of up and down, months that they'll love and months that they'll come to hate, and he doesn't know how he and Noah can do it. He doesn't know how Finn will do it, either, alone in Wisconsin.

Finn's just _not there_ , not flinging his arms around them, not kissing them, and for the first time, Kurt really lets himself think about what their three-way relationship means. Yes, thank god he still has Noah there and he's sure Noah's thinking the same thing, but what do they do now? What do they do when they need Finn and not each other?

From the beginning, Kurt has willfully not thought about the distance. It didn't help at the end of the summer. Thinking about it now, though, not only is it not helping, but Kurt would say unequivocally that it's making it worse. Kurt sits on the futon, staring out at the grey January sky.

 

Tuesday, January 22, 2013 is a shit day. The three days following it are shit, too. They're far worse than the last week of July that Noah and Kurt spent alone in Lima, without Finn, and if necessary, Noah could tell someone exactly why that's the case.

The last week in Lima, they expected to see Finn, but they also knew they were leaving. In just a few more days, they'd be in a place where they wouldn't expect him. Now, though, in January, they're at home in New York, and they still definitely expect to see him. He's become a part of their New York life, and then just as quickly, he's simply not there.

The last week in Lima, things felt much more like they were getting over a painful breakup. The words weren't actually said, of course, but then, how could they have broken up when they weren't officially together? In New York, their feelings are a reminder that they _are_ in a long-distance relationship of sorts, even if very few people outside the three of them know about it. A long-distance relationship that will, by necessity, stay long-distance for three and a half more years.

The last week in Lima, Noah and Kurt had to hide most, if not all, of their distress, even when they were ostensibly at home, because of Burt and Carole. They were supposed to be Finn's brother and Finn's best friend, and even in Kurt's bedroom, there wasn't space or privacy to really acknowledge what they had lost. Now, though, when they're at home, there's absolutely no reason to hide how they are feeling from each other. It's probably healthier not to bottle it up, true, but the pain is raw and exposed, and it _hurts_.

Finn texts them as soon as he lands in Milwaukee on Tuesday morning, and he texts again when he reaches Madison, just in time for his first class of the spring semester. Kurt hijacks the television on Wednesday night to watch _Survivor_ , texting Finn throughout the show. The three of them FaceTime on Thursday night, just like they have for months now. They're probably in near-constant contact, actually, between texts and calls and pictures sent via text. It's more than they had during the fall semester, even during December, after Thanksgiving break, and it's still desperate and it is not enough.

It fucking sucks.

Work is a little easier for Noah, since usually it's busy. Sure, sometimes Finn would come in and get a drink and sit down in a corner for awhile, but only if Noah and Kurt both were working. It's not strange for Friday's eight hours plus lunch to pass without a sign of Finn, and only a brief few moments of Kurt. At the end of the shift, though, Noah heads towards home, and he has to really fight the anger rising up. They had three Fridays after they got back to New York, plus one Friday in Lima; enough time to fall into a routine.

And it is anger. He's mad, mad that things are the way that they are. He can't be mad at Finn, though, or Kurt, or himself, so the anger has nowhere to go. Nowhere but his gut, and Noah tries not to think about how the anger feels a lot like anxiety.

The apartment's not quite dark when Noah walks in; there's a light over the stove. There's just enough light streaming into the main room for Noah to make out Kurt sitting on the futon. Noah takes off his coat, hat, and boots before walking over to the futon, noticing Kurt's still mostly dressed – odd for them at home, especially on a Friday night at home. "Hey, blue eyes," Noah says softly.

"Hi baby." Kurt shifts a little as Noah sinks down beside him, their bodies curling towards each other. Kurt sounds absolutely broken, or maybe shattered, and all Noah can do is wrap his arms around him, pulling him closer. "Is it going to feel like this every time?" Kurt whispers. "Every time we get him for a few days or a few weeks or even a few months, we still have to send him back afterwards. Is it going to feel this bad every time?"

"Probably worse," Noah admits, because he can't see how it won't. Every time, they're just going to get more used to having Finn in New York with them. Noah's pretty sure August is going to be one of the worst things they'll ever live through.

It doesn't matter, though; they'd still rather have Finn for the more than two months preceding August, and feel like shit in August, than not have him at all.

"Oh, god." Kurt slumps against him, and he seems just utterly defeated. "Oh, god, baby, you're right. Fuck. Fuck, how are we all going to do this, Noah?" Kurt starts to cry, not gasping, choking sobs, but quiet tears that just pour out of him steadily. "I mean, thank god I've got you, but Noah, what do we do?"

"I know." Noah tilts Kurt's chin up, kissing him through the tears. "I feel the same way." He doesn't have any answers, just answering feelings. Because he doesn't know what they're supposed to do now, either. How are they supposed to be a couple when they're missing their third person? What happens when Kurt needs _Finn_ and not Noah, and Finn's not here? Should Noah try to fill in? Noah doesn't know; and he doesn't know if it's better or worse, that he doesn't know what _he_ wants Kurt to do, when the situation is reversed.

That doesn't even touch the question of what the fuck Finn is supposed to do when he needs either or both of them, because he's alone in Wisconsin. Surrounded by friends, sure, but alone as far as the three of them are concerned.

Falling apart like this, the way Kurt is – it can't happen every time. Kurt doesn't break down easily, and now that's another part of the problem. If he keeps breaking down, how will _any_ of them get back up? Noah can't fix this, not for Kurt, not for Finn, not for himself, no matter how much he might want to. All he can do is hold Kurt and listen, and he can't even do that much for Finn.

Just like in Lima, they're going to have to get back up, and just like Noah thought earlier, it sucks.


End file.
